~ My interviews with many authors

Here is my interview with Francheska Fifield

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

Thank you! I am happy to be here. 😀

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

Francheska Fifield and I would tell you my age but then I would have to kill you. I am lucky enough to have a baby face so people often think I am my sons older sister rather than mother. It’s to fun to tell them the truth and have them look scandalized to ruin it by getting my real age out there. 😉

Fiona: Where are you from?

Vermont the beautiful green mountain state. I moved away to experience the world after school and came back because I discovered there really is no place like it in the world.

I am lucky to have a great family. My grandpa has a picture of me in his wallet with the prom dress I made myself and still brags to everyone about how I did it alone with no pattern and no doll to hang it on. My gram is a spunky funny woman that encourages me to know end. My mom and sister are buying all my books in paperback and ebook form. (In fact if you buy some of my books you will notice they have bigger font and are double spaced. That is because my mom’s eyesight is not great and she really wants to read them so I sacrificed the formatting a bit for her.) My hubby is terrific he keeps me in books and excuses my insanity…most of which comes from our son. Our son is 4 and he is a cute little helpful boy one moment and possessed the next. I have been told its normal which means I am now of the opinion that all kids are bipolar.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

Lola Kyle (my cover designer) and I are working to get all my old covers replaced and my new books terrific covers. She is a genius but very stubborn. I cannot see any cover until it’s basically done and she teases me with brief descriptions. Like Shifting Blood (the current project) is all red and black with pretty silver font. She has even been talking about a moving cover for the kindle edition but I have yet to see it. I told my husband on her but he laughed and said it was good I had a cover designer as stubborn as me. (I am not stubborn he’s just silly)

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

So in kindergarten (where I went to school at least) we had to do a show and tell on what we wanted to be when we grew up. I grabbed one of those papers they taught kids to write on with the big empty space for drawing on top and the largely spaced write here section below. I went home and made a story about a green dragon that lived in a clan of red dragons and was left out because he was different. He goes on an adventure and finds other animals that are different from their herds and such as well. They make friends and start a club and eventually come to accept their differences and enjoy them. That was when I was 5. I always knew it’s what I wanted to do. My mom said I was born loving books and that never changed.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Well when I wrote the first draft in Shifting Blood I think. It was not my first book but I sat down and wrote for 11-16 hours a day skipping meals and showers and less than a month later I had draft one. It went off to an editor, two actually, and I slept for a week while they had it. I think that exhausted, haven’t slept in a month, lost 10lbs from not eating, barely hydrated, broke because I am paying a bunch of editors was the moment I was like wow this is really it. I am doing this.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

I was very different from other kids and it scared me so I wrote the about the very different dragon and all his teasing and how he came out stronger and happier for it. I wanted to be like that and it gave me the determination to believe it could happen. As for all my other books no idea. I have always just had tons of things floating in my mind and the only way I could sleep was if I could write them down. My friends used to wake up when I was at their houses for sleep over’s and I would be up writing furiously not noticing a single thing that went on around me.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Well the first book I worked on that got published and a real title was Fate’s Redemption. I chose the title because two of the characters kind of tick fate off and it almost destroys the whole world. Fate intervenes but it doesn’t solve everything because only the two that broke it can truly fix it. So they try and earn their redemption.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I write mostly paranormal romances/urban fantasy because I am drawn to the unknown and characters that battle their way through the impossible. I do try to break out of that niche a bit and am working on a contemporary romance that is very different from what I usually write. It is very slow going and one of the most emotional things I have ever written. But ironically I have been stuck less often because I had a plan from the beginning where as I usually just start writing what’s in my head and go from there. It’s ironic in life I am all lists and schedules and in writing I just kind of go with the flow. The worst part for me is the ending. I can never decide if I want a tragedy or cliffhanger or HEA…it’s the most traumatic part for me.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Certain books I do base characters after someone I know but mostly it’s all in my head. I do however like to feel connected to the characters so I give each of them a trait I have. Taming the Wolf the main character writes paranormal romances. In another book a character is allergic to shellfish. Just something of me in there so I can make them truly mine.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

Travel would be great but no. I use mostly imagination and sometimes lots and lots and lots of research.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

The old ones various friends that wanted to just try it for fun. The new ones Lola Kyle. She also does all kinds of other stuff. At some point, once we are done playing catch up with the covers, she is creating my brand.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Mostly I want them to have fun but other times I want them to realize that life is full of hard and terrible things and you will not get through them unscathed but you can get through them and carry on with life as best you can.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

Asking a reader who their favorite author is is like asking a mother which is her favorite child. Not possible. Authors I have loved forever include Ilona Andrews, Grace Draven, Michelle Sagara and Patricia Briggs. Authors I have recently discovered…hmm Well I love Felicia Beasley. She is amazing and super nice! Sadly she is on a hiatus for personal reasons. Erin Hayes is pretty cool (her Greek mythology series especially). J.M Page and her fairy-tale space books make me super happy. I love fairy-tale retellings. Emma L Adams is super amazing. Everything she writes I gobble up like its thanksgiving dinner. Wendy Knight, K.N.Lee, L.C. Hibbett, and Kel Carpenter as well….See I told you it’s not possible to pick one!

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

Well I made my best friend in school (and still for that matter) edit my first draft of Fate’s Redemption. She stuck with me, argued when I changed things she liked and cursed me when I wrote the ending. (Sorry it didn’t go how you wanted chib)

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Well first and foremost I am a mom. Once you start that you don’t change it. But it’s definitely mistress status right now and with any luck I will get super popular and they will off me movie deals and I will be like ok as long as you don’t change things to make it more marketable because I hate that.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

I just wrote the end on it a few days ago so if I am having second thoughts already there is something very wrong with me lol.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

That I have to be writing 2-3 books at a time because the ideas do not always come for one when I want them to and that the voices in my head need to figure out which one needs to be written before bothering me so I can attempt one book at a time.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

Honestly I have no idea….for any of them. I think most would require a fairly new face and I would fully support that. A fresh face for my work would be my preference. I want my work to speak for itself not because someone famous is in it.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Do you like sleep? Yes. Don’t be a writer.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I am seriously not as deranged as I sound.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Books. Lol. I am actually trying to break out of my reading shell so I am reading not my usual genres. Ash: A Bad Boy Romance by Lexi Whitlow and Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

How many people remember what they read at age 3?

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

I cry when I watch movies or shows with animals dying or inspirational messages. Laughing is pretty snark and sass.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

Ilona Andrews so I can drool on her. Her Kate Daniel and Hidden legacy series have the best couples ever. Neither takes crap from the other and it’s not an easy ride and you never know how it’s going to turn out. Also I think it’s amazing her and her husband do it together! If my hubby tried to help me I would have him whacked.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Reading obviously. I love manga and anime. Yup I am a fan-girling nerd in the extreme. I like taking pictures of my family and friends and cute fat cat. And despite having no talent for it I love doing artsy stuff. Adult coloring is the best idea ever because now I am not a kid for wanting to color!

Fave foods include tacos, pizza and spaghetti. Colors greens, purples and blues. Music a lot of different stuff. I hate country and I am not fond of reggae but everything else goes.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

Lose my mind because the voices have no place to go and I stop sleeping and well there goes my sanity. No in reality a part of me would be missing but I think with the help of friends and family and lots of reading I would survive….barely but I would.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

THE WORLD IS SAFE AGAIN!!!

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?